Robin Hood play gets a new home

The rare manuscript, a hand-written play telling the legend of Robin Hood, with a second act, featuring a variety of songs, is the latest addition to the University of Hull’s archives in Hull History Centre.

The Outlaw and the Mansfield Maid was sourced by Department of English lecturer Dr Lesley Coote from the collection of the late medieval scholar Zara Zaddy. She said: “The play is likely to be a form of May Day entertainment, as it ends with Robin’s sweetheart Marian being crowned Queen of the May, as well as of Sherwood Forest. It may have been performed at local or regional theatre. Robin Hood was an incredibly popular character – he was one of the first subjects people put into silent movies around the turn of the last century.”